General Faces Inquiry on E-Mails to Petraeus Friend

Army General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, left, and Lt. Gen. John R. Allen, deputy commander of the U.S. Central Command, listen as U.S. President Barack Obama announces a reshuffling of his national security team at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, April 28, 2011. Photographer: Brendan Hoffman/Bloomberg

Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Marine general in charge of
allied forces in Afghanistan is under investigation after the
FBI found e-mails showing inappropriate communication with a
woman whose harassment complaint triggered the resignation of
CIA Director David H. Petraeus, a U.S. defense official said.

General John Allen, who was nominated last month to become
NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, is being investigated by the
Pentagon’s inspector general after the Federal Bureau of
Investigation found e-mails between him and Jill Kelley,
according to the official, who was on a military plane and spoke
to reporters on condition of anonymity.

The FBI has handed over 20,000 to 30,000 pages of
documents, most of them e-mails, the official said. President
Barack Obama has “put on hold” Allen’s nomination to head U.S.
forces in Europe at the request of Defense Secretary Leon
Panetta, Tommy Vietor, spokesman for the National Security
Council, said in an e-mailed statement.

Kelley is the Florida woman whose complaint to the FBI led
to a probe that uncovered an affair between Petraeus, a retired
Army general, and his biographer Paula Broadwell, U.S. officials
have said. FBI agents last night searched Broadwell’s North
Carolina home as U.S. lawmakers questioned the handling of the
investigation that led to Petraeus’s resignation as head of the
Central Intelligence Agency on Nov. 9.

Allen’s Denial

Allen has denied that he acted inappropriately, the U.S.
defense official said.

Asked about the situation during today’s press briefing,
White House press secretary Jay Carney said that Obama “has
faith in General Allen” and “believes he’s doing and has done
an excellent job” in Afghanistan.

The e-mails were flirtatious exchanges from 2010 to 2012
that didn’t necessarily indicate an adulterous relationship,
which is considered a crime under the Uniform Code of Military
Justice, according to a defense official at the Pentagon, also
discussing the matter on condition of anonymity. The official
didn’t say whether the flirtatious remarks were made by Allen,
by Kelley or by both of them.

The Pentagon informed the chairman of the Senate Armed
Services Committee, Michigan Democrat Carl Levin, and the
panel’s top Republican, John McCain of Arizona, about the
allegations against Allen, asking them to postpone his
confirmation hearing, Panetta said in a statement released to
reporters traveling with him en route to a conference in
Australia. The hearing had been scheduled to be held in
Washington on Nov. 15.

The committee’s leaders said they agreed to suspend action
on Allen’s nomination while proceeding with consideration of
Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, who was nominated to
succeed Allen in his current post.

No Conclusions

“I’m not reaching any conclusions at this point” on the
allegations involving Allen, McCain said in an interview at the
Capitol. “We’ve got to look at the whole situation” involving
Petraeus and Allen, he said.

Allen will remain commander of the International Security
Assistance Force in Afghanistan while the investigation is under
way and is “entitled to due process,” Panetta said in his
statement.

Obama urged the Senate to move swiftly in confirming
Dunford, Vietor said in his statement, while “the president
remains focused on fully supporting our extraordinary troops and
coalition partners in Afghanistan, who General Allen continues
to lead as he has so ably done for over a year.”

Panetta Informed

The Pentagon’s general counsel learned of the documents
from the FBI and informed Panetta’s chief of staff at about 5
p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Nov. 11 as the defense secretary
was heading to Honolulu, according to the defense official on
the plane. Obama was told about the allegations, according to
the official, who said the Pentagon was confident that the e-mails actually were from Allen.

Three people -- all intelligence, military or congressional
officials -- have identified Broadwell, who wrote “All In: The
Education of David Petraeus,” as the woman who had an affair
with Petraeus. The FBI investigation that unearthed the
relationship began with a complaint from Kelley about harassing
e-mails she had received, according to two law enforcement
officials.

“We and our family have been friends with General Petraeus
and his family for over five years,” Kelley and her husband,
Scott, said in a Nov. 10 statement. “We respect his and his
family’s privacy and want the same for us and our three
children.”

Community Relations

The defense official at the Pentagon said Allen had met
Kelley at social events as part of his community relations
activities when he was deputy commander and commander of
Central Command, which is based in Tampa, Florida.

Kelley participated in activities intended to strengthen
the community’s bond with the command, the official said.

Kelley “had no official position” with Central Command,
Lieutenant Colonel T.G. Taylor, a spokesman for the command,
said today in an e-mail.

“She is a volunteer and a private citizen, not an
employee,” Taylor said. “Because there is an ongoing
investigation, we have no additional information to provide.”

Allen has emphasized progress in handing more
responsibility to Afghan forces in the fight against the Taliban
as the U.S. prepares to wind down its combat operations by the
end of 2014. A review of options for the size and scope of the
U.S. military’s role after then will be completed within weeks,
Panetta told reporters yesterday.

The U.S. has 68,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of a
force of more than 100,000, including members from nations in
the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Allen graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis,
Maryland, in 1976, according to his official Marine Corps
biography.